Rekindling the Fire
by Akina11
Summary: Set pre epilogue Mockingjay, Peeta's view of how he and Katniss help each other and grow back together. Ps. I do not own the Hunger Games or any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Evening Primrose

I walk through the woods silently, enjoying the peace and openness around me. It's the first time I've been in here technically but I don't have to go far to find what I'm looking for. The flowers are spread out around the clearing in shades of pink and yellow. I take out my coat, set down the wheel barrow I brought with and raise the shovel to dig out some of the plants in both colors thinking about my last few days as I do.

There were so many tests and scans done, so many pills to take, so much of time spent longing to come home. I thought of what the doctor had said this morning and had to stop and close my eyes for a minute.

"_Peeta, the pills will help you but there is no guarantee that the episodes will actually stop." Dr. Aurelius sat in front of me watching my reaction to this news._

"_Does that mean I will never be able to go home?" I try to keep my voice free of emotion but it cracks ever so slightly._

"_No Peeta, you have been cleared to go home but you do have to be cautious. It won't be easy at times but you will be able to have a some what normal life. You can be happy again."_

_I let his words sink in. He speaks of happiness but I barely remember it, my memories are coming back slowly but it's taking a long time._

"_I can go home?" I ask again to make sure I heard correctly._

"_Yes, just phone me every week or I'll phone you and make sure you take your pills and if there's anything else that comes up we'll discuss it." With that I walked out the room saying goodbye and promising to keep in contact. _

_I was halfway down the hall when he called out to me. "Look out for Katniss will you and give her my message please."_

The train ride home had been calming; knowing that I was returning to District 12 calmed me. I knew I was also returning to Katniss and I had mixed emotions about that, mostly confusion but I knew we needed each other.

I opened my eyes and continued digging up the plants. When I knew I had enough I put them into the wheel barrow and made my way back to Victor's Village. The morning light was just starting to show when I started digging the ground along the side of her house. I had dug enough place when suddenly she came into view. She looked as if she had just woken up from a nightmare but I also registered shock on her face.

"You're back" she says. I can see the conflicting emotions cross her faces as she looks at me. I feel the same, happy to see her but also sad.

"Dr. Aurelius wouldn't let me leave the Capitol until yesterday," I say. "By the way, he said to tell you he can't keep pretending he's treating you forever. You have to pick up the phone." Thinking about my last meeting with the doctor also reminded me about the message I had to give her.

I take in her appearance and notice she hasn't really been taking care of herself. She looks pale and tired. Her eyes are sad, she looks as if she hasn't been out for a long time and her clothes aren't fitting her anymore.

"What are you doing?" She tries pushing her hair out of her face and I'm struck by an impulse to do it for her but I can't understand it. I also notice that she sounds defensive as she realizes I was taking her in.

"I went to the woods this morning and dug these up. For her," I say. "I thought we could plant them along the side of the house." I gesture towards the plants and she looks at them and realizes what they are. Evening primrose.

Before I can say anything else she just says 'okay' and runs back into her house and closes the door. I stand there for a minute feeling as if she's afraid of me but I also know that she's not healed yet and I vow to help her, to protect her.

I continue planting the flowers and set of for my house thinking of making some cheese rolls.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Cheese Rolls and Episodes

I walk into my kitchen and see that I have everything I need to make the rolls and I set to work measuring flour and grating cheese. I'm not really sure why I wanted to make this particular roll but I thought it would help cheer up Katniss some.

When I bake, I go into a world that's entirely my own, not having to worry about tracker jacker venom or being hijacked. I can just be me. I remember how decorating Annie and Finnick's wedding cake made me feel so much better inside, made me feel more like me than some empty shell.

I finish baking the dough and put it into the oven to bake with the grated cheese on top. Soon my house is filled with the smell of the baking rolls and it seems like any normal day before the war but inside myself I feel as lonely as ever. I don't think much as I go to take the rolls out but as I walk through the kitchen I notice my family album left on the table and feel a terrible ache inside my heart.

I'm filled first with pain but it slowly turns into longing and I leave my house and walk into the district. I take in, for the first time, all the destruction that was caused by the bombing in the rubble that surrounds what used to be the shops and homes in District 12. I reach our family bakery and I stop feeling a lump rise up in my throat. I remember decorating cakes and lining them up in the window which now doesn't exist, there's no door or roof or anything but I walk inside and imagine what the building once was. I see memories of my parents and brothers as we went about helping them bake. I thought about us sneaking around and playing as children when my mother used to laugh with us. The fear of losing her children to the games had scared her into pretending she didn't care but she became softer once I had won, I remember seeing that before everything with the Quarter Quell happened.

I knelt down in the middle of what used to be the kitchen and felt the tears begin to fall. I didn't notice she was standing there until I heard her speak.

"I'm sorry Peeta." I looked up and saw Katniss standing just outside what used to be the entrance. I didn't know what to say to her at that moment but I didn't send her away so she came inside and knelt beside me.

I saw her hesitate at first but then she put her hand on mine and I looked into her eyes. I could see some fear in them but mostly I just saw sadness, something I felt as well. Before I could say anything else she smiled once sadly and walked away. I take one more look at the remains of what used to be my comfort place and walk back to my house.

The first thing I notice as I enter the door is the burnt smell. I don't rush though because I already know what I will find, the cheese rolls burnt to a crisp. I take it out and turn off the oven and as I'm throwing the rolls away I notice that I have also been burnt like that, the burns marks from when I tried and failed to help Prim still cover me.

I had also seen her that day the parachutes came down but from the opposite side of Katniss. I had been running towards her to take her out of the danger zone when the parachute that she carried exploded. I felt the sadness consume me before the pain of the burns, Prim was always nice to me and she tried as much as she could to help me feel normal again when I was hijacked. That was also part of the reason I went looking for the flowers to plant, the rest of the reason? I knew it would help Katniss because I understood what losing family is; only I couldn't plant anything to remind me of mine.

It took less than a minute to happen, I had been thinking of Katniss and her pain when suddenly I felt the fury rise up in me. The images started flooding into my mind before I even had a chance to stop them, images of her standing over me with a knife, mocking me about my feelings for her. Images of her with Gale, both of them laughing and joking at my expense, the fake shows of love during the Games, her injuring me in the cave. It almost overwhelmed me when I remembered something else, the day I gave her the bread, holding her as she slept on the train and in the training room. They were hazy images but they were there and I focused on those to help me calm down. I also remembered when she came to me in the bakery today, the look in her eyes as she tried to comfort me just that little bit.

When I finally felt something a little close to normal again I opened my eyes and realized I was on the kitchen floor. I didn't bother about anything else, just woke up and found the pills that Dr. Aurelius had given me. I took what I needed to and went to bed falling into a dreamless sleep brought on by the medication and the tiredness from what I've learnt to call 'my episode'.

**A huge thank you to people for reading this story. Reviews are much appreciated, good or bad; it will definitely improve and make me want to write more. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters, they belong only to Mz Collins.**


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